Causes of the Fall of the Roman Republic

Causes of the Fall of the Roman Republic This paper discusses the statement, â€Å"The Roman Republic was brought down not by luxury or corruption but by fundamental flaws in the structure of its political system†. As will be argued, a statement such as this can only be discussed in relative, not absolute, terms, as no one cause for the demise of the Roman Republic can ever, realistically, be said to have been the factor that caused it’s fall. Under this framework, then, the first section of the paper discusses the various theories that have been posited to explain the fall of the Roman Republic, with the second section looking, in detail, at the political structure of the Roman Republic and how this could potentially have contributed to its ultimate demise. Gibbon’s great tome The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire essentially concludes that the Roman Empire was brought down through moral decadence. Other authors have argued for different reasons behind the fall of the Roman Republic, with recent scholars (for example Hunt et al., 2001) arguing that the Republic did not fall, rather that it was subject to a highly complex transformation, with additional confusion amongst scholars as to when the Republic actually fell: some argue that the Republic fell in 476 with the deposition of Romulus Augustus; others argue that the Republic continued until as late as 1453, and that it fell only when Constantinople was lost. This next section will present some of the most prevalent theories about the fall of the Roman Republic. Ferrill (1998) has argued that the Roman Republic fell due to it’s barbarization, that the influx of German mercenaries in to the Roman military led to lack of loyalty and complacency amongst the Roman ranks, leading to a surge in decadence amongst the Roman soldiers and citizenry. This somewhat supports Gibbon’s (1983) assertion that decadence was responsible for the fall of the Roman Republic. Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire essentially concludes that the Roman Empire was brought down through moral decadence, as he argues, through the loss of what he terms ‘the loss of civic virtue’. The influx of barbarian mercenaries, coupled with the rising popularity of Christianity, Gibbon argues, led the Roman populace to come to believe more in the afterlife, leading to the loss of social structures, and, ultimately, leading to the fall of the Roman Republic. Other historians contradict this theory of Gibbons (1983) and Ferrill (1998), arguing that the Roman Republic continued to be strong right up until the Muslim conquests in the seventh century, at which point these conquests, amongst other things, disrupted trade routes, leading to a general economic downturn in Western Europe. It is argued that this economic downturn led, ultimately, to the disbandment of the Roman way of life, leading to the ultimate fall of the Roman Republic. This theory has, however, been recently rebutted by a number of historians who have argued that trade routes would not have been so badly affected, that trade must have entered Western Europe by some other route as the discovery, and therefore existence, of Islamic currency in Roman areas is suggestive of a two-way trade. Economic explanation for the fall of the Roman Republic are popular, however, and will be looked at in further detail later in the paper. Bury’s 1923 History of the Later Roman Empire presents in-depth research in to the issue of the fall of the Roman Republic and concludes with a complex theory to explain it’s fall. Essentially, Bury (1923) argues that the Roman Republic fell due to many simultaneously occurring factors, such as a general economic decline in the region, the influence of German (Barbarian) troops on Roman soldiers, and the dependence of Roman military leaders on Barbarian manpower, the depopulation of Italy[1], various murders and treasons that occurred within the top ranks of Roman politics, and the absence of any convincing leader following the murder of Aetius. As Bury clearly states in his concluding sections, Roman power gradually collapsed, and â€Å"†¦.was the consequence of a series of contingent events.†. As he argues, no general causes can be assigned, and nothing suggested to him, through his research, that the fall of the Roman republic was by any means inevitable. Bark (1958) argues that it was the massive effort that was involved in keeping the Roman Republic together that, ultimately, led to its fall. Around this time, feudalism was developing, yet the Roman ruling classes were not well organized in terms of having a system in place to collect taxes from their people, such that it became the responsibility of the middle classes to undertake the massive task of collecting grain taxes. As such, only a small proportion of these taxes actually arrived back to the Imperial government, leading to massive losses in revenues for the Roman rulers, having massive side-effects, such as decreased investment in the Roman military, for example. In addition, currency inflation, through a reduced supply of gold in to the Republic (see Jones, 1974) led to the government leaking money, with their stock of cash being reduced, leading, ultimately, to massive cash flow problems for the Republic, with obvious implications, in terms of funding the military and fun ding public building projects, for example. These two factors, occurring in conjunction, argues Bark (1958) led to the ultimate demise of the Roman Republic. Toynbee (1939) preceded Bark’s (1958) logic that the Roman Republic was an economically poor force, with his detailed research showing that Roman leaders had no budgeting system in place, leading to obvious problems with controlling cash flow, leading, ultimately, to a dwindling of whatever cash resources were available and to a lack of cash availability for providing for military expenditure, or public works, for example. This method of budgeting had proved successful as long as the Romans continued to expand into other areas, from which they could loot existing resources, but as soon as the Roman Republic stopped expanding, this source of revenue also stopped. At this point, the Romans, without an adequate budgeting system, coupled with loss of tax money through an inadequate collection system, coupled with currency inflation (see, also, Jones, 1974), faced massive economic problems, causing, it is argued, the ultimate demise of the Roman Republic (Toynbee, 1939). Building on this theory, Tainter (1990) argues that the fall of the Republic was due to marginal returns on investments, again contributing to cash flow problems for the Republic as a whole, ultimately contributing to its decline; unlike many authors who study the collapse of the Roman Republic, Tainter (1990) argues strongly that the fall of the Roman Republic may have been a good thing for many Roman subjects, in terms of benefits arising from not having to invest in maintaining such a complex society (i.e., no taxes to pay etc.) and indeed, archeological evidence, through studies of human bones pre- and immediately post- the fall of the Roman Republic, post-fall, humans were better nourished. Rostovtzeff (1957) also subscribes to this economic theory of the fall of the Roman Republic, arguing that the free trade market economy developed by the Roman Republic worked up until the debasement of the currency in the third century, at which point inflation began to hurt citizens, who then began to move away from urban areas, to move to the country in order to undertake subsistence farming as a way of surviving i.e., they could grow their own crops for food, and in this way not have to rely on failing monetary sources to keep them alive. Bartlett (1994) continues the work of Toynbee (1939) arguing that by the third century monetary taxation had been replaced with direct requisitioning, where food and cattle, instead of money, were collected directly from farmers. This pathway, argues Bartlett (1994) led directly to the development of feudalism, with estates formed around the cultivation of crops and cattle, and not, as such, dependent on any form of trade whatsoever. This, on a grand scale, Republic-wide, is then argued to have led to a massive downturn in the economic fortune of the Republic, and to a decrease in its military capability, for example, with, again, obvious consequences for maintaining control over the entire Roman territory. The research of Heather (2005) leads to conclusions about the fall of the Roman Republic which differ from previous theories: he argues that the emergence of the Persian Empire led to the Roman Republic stripping tax collection from its Eastern edge, leading to a decline in economic revenues, a decline in governance in these areas, and a mass influx of peoples to the empire, for example, by the Barbarians, leading to massive levels of immigration to the Roman Republic, leading to obvious social problems. Through his exhaustive research, Heather explicitly rejects Gibbon’s ‘moral decadence’ theory for the decline of the Roman Republic. Neither does he see any validity in the arguments of those who support political infighting as the major reason for the fall of the Roman Republic. Heather supports the arguments of Bury (1923) who argues that the fall of the Roman Republic was not inevitable but that it occurred as a result of a series of events which, unfortunately , came together at the same time, and which, ultimately, led to the fall of the Republic. Heather’s viewpoint is argued against by Ward-Perkins in his 2005 book The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilisation which argues, in a similar manner to previous historians assessments of the situation, that the fall of the Republic occurred as a result of political instability, foreign invasions and economic instability due to reduced tax revenues. The massive, and sustained, immigrations of foreigners, such as the barbarians, Ward-Perkins (2005) argues, led to a weakening of the tax base, leading to an inability to equip the Roman army, with obvious deleterious consequences. Ward-Perkins, ultimately, however, argues, as do Bury (1923) and Heather (2005) that the fall of the Roman Republic was due to a complex mixture of processes and events which came together at the same time to lead to a definite fall in the Roman Republic. Levick (1982) looks at the morals and political system of the Roman Republic, and their relation to its fall. She argues that ‘ambitio’ – ambition – led to major political difficulties during the last century of the Roman Republic, with a thirst for ultimate power leading to in-fighting and political problems. As Levick (1982) argues, however, it is difficult to infer the Roman political structure from contemporary documentation, as much is contradictory, but it can be inferred that the Roman constitution and community was a self-regulating device, kept in perpetuity and in check by a series of checks and balances that prevented disintegration from within and also made the community better able to cope with threats from outside. To Romans, however, as Levick (1982) argues, this political system was seen explicitly as a moral obligation, with anything that upset the political balances being seen as something undesirable and immoral. Levick argues that, ultim ately, the political system had a built-in tension between the group and the individual, and that, ultimately it was this in-built tension that led to the death of the Roman Republic, through squabbles for individual power which led to the breakdown of Roman society. As we have seen in this paper, therefore, there are many different explanations for the fall of the Roman Republic, with the main theories being economic demise, immigration and overtaking by Barbarians and other groups, and political infighting which, it is argued, led to the ultimate demise of the Roman Republic through a disintergration of the moral fibre of Roman society. As to which theory of the fall of the Roman Republic one subscribes to, this depends on the literature that has been studied, and the quality of the sources used within that literature. Heather (2005) and Gibbons (1983), for example, both use quality primary sources, and yet arrive at different conclusions for the reasons behind the fall of the Roman Republic. It is perhaps most prudent, at this stage, therefore, to argue that a statement such as â€Å"The Roman Republic was brought down not by luxury or corruption but by fundamental flaws in the structure of its political system† can only be discussed in relative, not absolute, terms, as no one cause for the demise of the Roman Republic can ever, realistically, be said to have been the factor that caused it’s fall. The present paper has thus presented the various theories for the fall of the Roman Republic in this framework, in terms of offering a holistic view of the situation on the ground around the time of the fall; fundamental flaws in the Roman political system were, as we have seen, just one part of a complex situation which, together, led to the fall of the Roman Republic. References Bark, W.C., 1958. Origins of the Medieval World. Bartlett, B., 1994. How Excessive Government Killed Ancient Rome. The Cato Journal 14(2), pp. Available online from http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cjv14n2-7.html. Accessed on 23rd April 2007. Bury, J.B., 1923. History of the Later Roman Empire from the Death of Theodesius I to the Death of Justinian. Ferrill, A., 1998. The Fall of the Roman Empire: The Military Explanation. Gibbon, E., 1983 (Reprint edition). The decline and fall of the Roman Empire. London: Penguin Classics. Gunderson, G., 1976. Economic Change and the demise of the Roman Empire. Explorations in Economic History 13(1), pp.43-68. Heather, P.J., 2005. The Fall of the Roman Empire. Hunt, L. et al., 2001. The Making of the West, Peoples and Cultures, Volume A: To 1500. Bedford: St. Martins Press. Jones, A.H.M., 1974. Inflation under the Roman Empire. Economic History Review 5(3), pp.293-318. Kagan, D., 1992. The End of the Roman Empire: Decline or Transformation? (Problems in European Civilisation). Houghton Mifflin. Levick, B., 1982. Morals, politics and the fall of the Roman Republic. Greece Rome 29(1), pp.53-62. Rostovtzeff, M., 1957. The social and economic history of the Roman empire. London: Oxford University Press. McNeill, W.H., 1976. Plagues and Peoples. Millar, F., 1984. The political character of the Classical Roman Republic. The Journal of Roman Studies 74, pp.1-19. Tainter, J.A., 1990. The collapse of complex societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Toynbee, A.J., 1939. A study of history: Volume IV. The breakdown of civilisations. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ward-Perkins, B., 2005. The Fall of Rome: and the End of Civilisation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Footnotes [1] McNeill (1976) argued in his book Plagues and Peoples that a plague swept through the Roman Republic, leading to a massive population decline in Western Europe.

Hunger Games Comparative Essay

Katniss Everdeen & Chris Stewart Imagine being only 14, having to take care of your family, worrying about shelter and food for your whole family. This was the situation Katniss Everdeen and Chris Stewart were put in. Something like this rarely happens and it’s not fair to the kids that is does. Normally you can’t compare fictional characters and nonfiction characters. However; in this situation it is very easy because they both had a similar childhood and upbringings.They both came out on top with a lot of pride, toughness and perseverance and the willing to take care of others. Katniss Everdeen is a fictional character in the book The Hunger Games. She is 16 years old and lives in a district called Panem in the poorest part of town called, The Seam. She lives with her mother and younger sister. Her father passes away during a coal mining explosion when she was 11 years old.After that tragedy Katniss’ mother went into deep depression and was unable to take care of her daughter’s, Katniss and Primrose. During her Mothers depression Katniss had to come and step up to take care of the family. Her family was on the verge of survival and on the brink of starvation. â€Å"I was determined to feed us†¦ I kept us alive† said Katniss. She did whatever it took to take care of them from walking miles to try and find scrapes from garbage’s in the rich part of town, to hunting in the forest for plants.That’s how her father got most of their food hunting illegally in the forest for plants. Katniss did something remarkable that changed her life forever by using these four words â€Å"I volunteer as tribute†. She saved her sister from basically dying at The Hunger Games and putting herself in that situation. She called it an ancient sign for saying â€Å"admiration† and â€Å"goodbye to someone you love. † She was also very skilled in archery, hunting and trapping. Having learning th

Ruthless Magoosh Gre Essay Topics Strategies Exploited

Ruthless Magoosh Gre Essay Topics Strategies Exploited The Chronicles of Magoosh Gre Essay Topics If writing essays isn't your forte, then you have to sit up and take stock of the quantity of GRE Essays. The Magoosh's internet GRE preparation course comprises first-rated material with good reviews and is quite reasonably priced. So, I want to tell you about Magoosh's internet preparation course for cracking the GRE that's a top course online. One of the greatest approaches to approach the GRE once you first begin studying is to think big then tiny. Unlike the majority of the GRE prep programs where you get no more than the mathematical solutions, Magoosh will help you with logical solutions too. Magoosh GRE test prep also helps its subscribers with a couple external links where it is possible to acquire thorough explanations of the difficulties. Also called the GRE Analytical Writing Assessment (GRE AWA), this test is extremely prep-able if you understand how to practice! 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Evolution Labs - Coacervates Lab

Coacervates are a life-like creation that prove that life may have formed from simple organic substances under the right conditions that eventually led to the formation of prokaryotes. Sometimes called protocells, these coacervates mimic life by creating vacuoles and movement. All it takes to create these coacervates is protein, carbohydrates, and an adjusted pH. This is easily done in the lab and then the coacervates can be studied under a microscope to observe their life-like properties. Materials: goggleslab coats or protective covering for clothescompound light microscopemicroscope slidescoverslipstest tube racksmall culture tubes (one tube per student)rubber stopper or cap that fits the culture tubeone medicine dropper per tube0.1M HCl solutionpH papercoacervate mix Making the coacervate mix: Mix 5 parts of 1% gelatin solution with 3 parts 1% gum acacia solution on the day of the lab (the 1% solutions can be made up ahead of time). Gelatin can be purchased at either the grocery store or a science supply company. Gum acacia is very affordable and can be bought from some science supply companies. Procedure: Put on the goggles and lab coats for safety. There is acid used in this lab, so extra precautions should be taken when working with the chemicals.Use good lab practices when setting up the microscope. Make sure the microscope slide and coverslip are clean and ready for use.Obtain a clean culture tube and a test tube rack to hold it. Fill up the culture tube about half way with the coacervate mix which is a combination of 5 parts gelatin (a protein) to 3 parts gum acacia (a carbohydrate).Use a dropper to put a drop of the mix onto a piece of pH paper and record the initial pH.Add a drop of acid to the tube and then cover the end of the tube with a rubber stopper (or culture tube cap) and invert the entire tube once to mix. If this is done properly, it will turn somewhat cloudy. If the cloudiness disappears, add another drop of acid and invert the tube once again to mix. Continue adding drops of acid until the cloudiness stays. Most likely, this will not take more than 3 drops. If it t akes more than that, check to be sure you have the right concentration of acid. When it stays cloudy, check the pH by putting a drop on pH paper and record the pH.Place a drop of the cloudy coacervate mix on a slide. Cover the mix with a coverslip, and search under low power for your sample. It should look like clear, round bubbles with smaller bubbles inside. If you are having trouble finding your coacervates, try adjusting the light of the microscope.Switch the microscope to high power. Draw a typical coacervate.Add three more drops of acid, one at a time, inverting the tube to mix after each single drop. Take a drop of the new mix and test its pH by putting it on the pH paper.After washing your original coacervates off of your microscope slide (and the coverslip, too), put a drop of the new mix on the slide and cover with the coverslip.Find a new coacervate on low power of your microscope, then switch to high power and draw it on your paper.Be careful with clean up of this lab. F ollow all safety procedures for working with acid when cleaning. Critical Thinking Questions: Compare and contrast the materials you used in this lab to create coacervates to the supposed materials available on the ancient Earth.At what pH did the coacervate droplets form? What does this tell you about the acidity of the ancient oceans (if it is assumed this is how life formed)?What happened to the coacervates after you added the extra drops of acid? Hypothesize how you could get the original coacervates to come back into your solution.Is there a way coacervates may be more visible when looking through a microscope? Create a controlled experiment to test your hypothesis. Lab adapted from original procedure by the University of Indiana

Evolution Labs - Coacervates Lab

Coacervates are a life-like creation that prove that life may have formed from simple organic substances under the right conditions that eventually led to the formation of prokaryotes. Sometimes called protocells, these coacervates mimic life by creating vacuoles and movement. All it takes to create these coacervates is protein, carbohydrates, and an adjusted pH. This is easily done in the lab and then the coacervates can be studied under a microscope to observe their life-like properties. Materials: goggleslab coats or protective covering for clothescompound light microscopemicroscope slidescoverslipstest tube racksmall culture tubes (one tube per student)rubber stopper or cap that fits the culture tubeone medicine dropper per tube0.1M HCl solutionpH papercoacervate mix Making the coacervate mix: Mix 5 parts of 1% gelatin solution with 3 parts 1% gum acacia solution on the day of the lab (the 1% solutions can be made up ahead of time). Gelatin can be purchased at either the grocery store or a science supply company. Gum acacia is very affordable and can be bought from some science supply companies. Procedure: Put on the goggles and lab coats for safety. There is acid used in this lab, so extra precautions should be taken when working with the chemicals.Use good lab practices when setting up the microscope. Make sure the microscope slide and coverslip are clean and ready for use.Obtain a clean culture tube and a test tube rack to hold it. Fill up the culture tube about half way with the coacervate mix which is a combination of 5 parts gelatin (a protein) to 3 parts gum acacia (a carbohydrate).Use a dropper to put a drop of the mix onto a piece of pH paper and record the initial pH.Add a drop of acid to the tube and then cover the end of the tube with a rubber stopper (or culture tube cap) and invert the entire tube once to mix. If this is done properly, it will turn somewhat cloudy. If the cloudiness disappears, add another drop of acid and invert the tube once again to mix. Continue adding drops of acid until the cloudiness stays. Most likely, this will not take more than 3 drops. If it t akes more than that, check to be sure you have the right concentration of acid. When it stays cloudy, check the pH by putting a drop on pH paper and record the pH.Place a drop of the cloudy coacervate mix on a slide. Cover the mix with a coverslip, and search under low power for your sample. It should look like clear, round bubbles with smaller bubbles inside. If you are having trouble finding your coacervates, try adjusting the light of the microscope.Switch the microscope to high power. Draw a typical coacervate.Add three more drops of acid, one at a time, inverting the tube to mix after each single drop. Take a drop of the new mix and test its pH by putting it on the pH paper.After washing your original coacervates off of your microscope slide (and the coverslip, too), put a drop of the new mix on the slide and cover with the coverslip.Find a new coacervate on low power of your microscope, then switch to high power and draw it on your paper.Be careful with clean up of this lab. F ollow all safety procedures for working with acid when cleaning. Critical Thinking Questions: Compare and contrast the materials you used in this lab to create coacervates to the supposed materials available on the ancient Earth.At what pH did the coacervate droplets form? What does this tell you about the acidity of the ancient oceans (if it is assumed this is how life formed)?What happened to the coacervates after you added the extra drops of acid? Hypothesize how you could get the original coacervates to come back into your solution.Is there a way coacervates may be more visible when looking through a microscope? Create a controlled experiment to test your hypothesis. Lab adapted from original procedure by the University of Indiana